


As You Wish

by ShiieldMaidenofGondor



Series: I Was Hoping It'd Be You [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-04-11 11:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4434485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiieldMaidenofGondor/pseuds/ShiieldMaidenofGondor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of meeting Neal Cassidy when she was seventeen, Emma meets a young man with an attractive accent, a prosthetic hand, and the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen (though she would never admit to such a thing).</p>
<p>Written for CS AU Week 2k15.</p>
<p>Edited 2/5/16.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As You Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Day 2 of AU Week, Altered Canon Storyline day!
> 
> I don't own Once Upon A Time. If I did, my lack of a summer job wouldn't be this worrying.

He was going to do it. He was going to get out of Neverland and find his Crocodile - it was going to work, it had to. 

 

The portal opened, but with it came a storm. 

 

Killian was thrown from his ship. 

 

He must have gotten knocked out, he was disoriented, he didn't know what was going on, but this definitely wasn't the Jolly Roger's deck. 

 

"What happened?" he asked himself groggily. 

 

"We found you," an unfamiliarly accented voice answered. "You were drifting, just off the north California coast.” 

 

_California- what? What the bloody hell is-_

 

Realization dawned on him. He was in another realm, that was sure. But it wasn't the Enchanted Forest. 

 

As he would later discover, this was a Land Without Magic.

 

* * *

 

_2001, a little less than a year later._

 

Emma Swan stalked down the alley towards the yellow Volkswagen beetle with a manufactured sense of innocent purpose.  To the passing eye, she looked every bit a young woman who was simply returning to her car. _I've had too much practice with this,_ Emma thought to herself as she carefully worked the car door open. With one last glance to her surroundings, she heard that satisfying _click_ and opened the door, her blonde ponytail flicking out behind her as she quickly got in the car and shut the door behind her. She dug in her purse for her ever so technologically advanced tools - a screwdriver and a rock - and set to work getting the car started. 

 

It took a bit of effort but finally, _finally_ , she felt the engine sputter to life and she breathed a sigh of relief. With a glance to the rear view mirror, Emma Swan switched off the parking brake, lowered her foot to the clutch pedal, and shifted gears, rolling out of the alley and into the street. She never _did_ get to thank that Ingrid whackjob for teaching her how to drive stick.

 

"Very impressive, love," came a voice from behind her. 

 

Emma couldn't keep in her gasp of utter and complete fear and surprise. _Holy shit. Who the fuck - what is going on holy shit-_

 

"But you could've just asked me for the keys, save yourself some trouble," he continued, cutting off her thoughts and dangling said keys for her to see and _fuck_ he was Irish and had an accent to boot. 

 

Emma's eyes widened. _Shit. Shit shit shit._ Her eyes traveled back an forth between this guy and the keys in his hand and _dammit_ she needed to keep her eyes on the road. _Calm down Swan. You got this. He's just some deadbeat, you can handle this._ She wanted to say something - something clever, some sort of warning to scare him off - but her mouth wouldn't form words so she just focused on driving. 

 

"Don't worry about it, love, just keep driving," he said in that damned accent of his. 

 

"Keep driving?" Emma shot back, her mouth finally remembering how to speak. "I just stole your car, your life could be in danger." She glanced at him in the rear view mirror and dammit he had a little grin on his face, like he thought she was funny. 

 

"Do you think this is funny -" she started, trailing off when she realized she didn't have a name to label him with. 

 

"Not at all," he said, "and the name's Killian Jones, by the way. What might I call you?"

 

"Yeah, I'm not telling you my name," she said, rolling her eyes at him. 

 

"Don't need it to have you arrested, darling," he fired back. Emma raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

"You're bluffing," she called him out - a stab in the dark really, but when his shoulders dropped with a sigh, she let herself grin triumphantly. 

 

"Fine then, but if you don't give me a name then I'll just have to make one up for you," he said and Emma felt the dread building up in her stomach already. No way in hell was she gonna deal with that shit. 

 

"It's Emma," she said quickly, cutting him off before he could get started, "Emma Swan."

 

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Jones said, his infuriatingly attractive accent doing things to Emma that she refused to even address, let alone deal with. A short silence filled the little yellow bug before Emma decided to break it. 

 

"So do you live in here or are you just waiting for the car to get stolen?" she asked him. 

 

"Why don't we talk about it over a drink?" he boldly answered with his own question. Emma whipped her head around to stare at him, her mouth hanging open incredulously. 

 

"Excuse me?" she demanded from him. She couldn't believe it. She _literally_ just _stole_ his car and he's asking her to go out for drinks? He flashed her a roguish grin and dammit she could feel her resolve weakening just a tiny bit but then his eyes redirected out the windshield.  

 

"Eyes on the road!" he said urgently and Emma turned back around just in time to watch a stop sign pass by and to hear at least two cars honking at them. 

 

"I'm not letting you take me out for a drink, you might be a pervert," she said. Jones shrugged. 

 

"Fair point, Swan, I might be a pervert, but you are definitely a car thief," he said, grinning at her infuriatingly. 

 

"I said I was sorry," Emma started to say, "and anyways-"

 

"Actually, no, you didn't," he interrupted her. Emma opened her mouth to retort, but she was interrupted by sirens blaring behind them, wordlessly demanding her to pull over. 

 

"Dammit," she muttered to herself. She pulled over and stopped the car. 

 

"Screwdriver," Killian whispered urgently and with wordless cooperation, she removed the screwdriver, chucked it under the passenger seat, and Killian jammed the key into the ignition just before the officer approached the car and Emma rolled down the window. 

 

"License and registration;," the officer demanded. 

 

"Hi," Emma greeted him, putting on an innocent and sweet mask as quick as lightning. Behind her, she felt Killian maneuvering himself to stick his head and shoulders around her seat so he could talk to the officer. 

 

"We're so sorry, officer," he began, sounding every bit the remorseful golden citizen he most definitely wasn't. "But, eh, this is my car. You see, I've been teaching my girlfriend here how to drive a stick shift," he lied with practiced ease. Emma glanced at him in surprise but quickly hid it before turning back to the officer. 

 

"She's got a lot to learn," the officer said, glancing back at the stop sign. 

 

"Aye, that she does, but she's a fast learner," Killian said, putting an arm around Emma's shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze that she leaned into with a smile for the sake of their act. She turned her worried eyes back to the officer. 

 

"I really am sorry, officer, it's just so hard to get the hang of it," she started to explain, preparing herself to go on a huge spiraling tangent, but thankfully, the officer interrupted her before she could. 

 

"It's a warning this time," he said in a no-nonsense tone. 

 

"Thank you so much, officer," Killian answered for them and the pair held their breath as they watched the officer return to his squad car. Emma breathed a sigh of relief and rolled the window back up. 

 

"Why did you do tha-" Emma started. 

 

"Quick, lass, get us out of here, we were lucky," Killian interrupted her. 

 

"We?" Emma clarified as Killian clambered into the passenger seat beside her, nodding. "This isn't your car either, is it."

 

Killian's silence was answer enough. 

 

"I stole a stolen car," Emma said, more to herself than to Killian. 

 

"Aye," he answered. "Now how about that drink?" he asked her. Emma rolled her eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, this creep with an accent was starting to grow on her. 

 

"Fine. One drink, and I'll expect you to pay," she conceded. Killian grinned at her and they were off. 

 

* * *

 

One year later, Emma and Killian were still together. They'd travelled the country, pillaging and plundering, but mostly just committing petty thefts and hustling pool at seedy bars. Killian liked to call her his little pirate and he had lovingly christened their little yellow bug _The Jolly Roger_ and Emma slapped him for that, before telling him he loved his fairy tales too much. 

 

“Oh, Emma, you can’t love fairy tales too much!” he said. “They’re childhood, yeah, but that’s what makes them so important!”

 

“What’s your favorite fairy tale then, _Prince Charming?_ ” Emma asked in a teasing tone from her position leaning against the door of the car.

 

“What’s yours?” he fired back. After a moment of thought, Emma had her answer.

 

“Peter Pan,” she told him, and Killian scrunched up his face in distaste. “What’s wrong with Peter Pan?”

 

“Pan’s a ruddy jackass, that’s what,” he replied easily. “He kidnaps kids and he doesn’t let them leave,” he said, and Emma noticed a certain darkness creeping up in his eyes. “Hook’s not that bad though,” he added, smiling to himself like he knew something she didn’t.

 

“Hook’s the villain though,” Emma said, confused.

 

“He’s just misunderstood!” Killian insisted, that stupid grin on his face that Emma loved so much. 

 

“Alright then, what fairy tale would you call your favorite?”

 

“Does the Princess Bride count?” Killian asked. Emma shrugged.

 

“You _do_ have a bit of the Dread Pirate Roberts in you,” she said, sidling up to him and clasping her hands behind his neck.

 

“I like the sound of that,” Killian said with a smirk. 

 

“Does that make me your Princess Buttercup?”

 

Killian kissed her quickly and moved to rest his forehead against hers.

 

“As you wish.”

 

* * *

 

Emma couldn’t have been happier than when she was with Killian. She was pretty damn sure she loved him. She loved this idiot Brit and she knew that he loved her. They might not have had the best life, but it was a life together and Emma had no idea what she had done to deserve him.

 

* * *

 

"Get whatever you want, love, I'll ask for directions," Killian said, loud enough for the man behind the counter to hear him. Emma gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran her hands over what looked like her very pregnant belly but was actually just a tote bag stuffed under her dress. Killian walked over to the counter and Emma watched carefully, taking things as she went - a few sandwiches, some candy, and the like. All was going well with the lost couple act until a man walked in to the store and spotted Killian pocketing something. Emma panicked. 

 

"Oh god! Honey! I think my water broke!" she shrieked, rushing out from the aisle and into Killian's view. 

 

"It's time?" he asked, a ridiculous grin on his face. Emma nodded. 

 

"But you were-" the other customer started to say, but Emma cut him off with a heavy hand on his shoulder and a cry of pain. 

 

"Oh my god! It hurts really bad!" she said, clutching her falsely pregnant belly. 

 

"Do you want me to call an ambulance?" the guy behind the counter asked as Killian ushered Emma out the door, still doubled over and pretending to be in pain. 

 

"No, it's fine, my car's right there!" Killian shouted back, rushing Emma out the doors an telling her to breathe just like a panicked father-to-be. They kept it up until they were out of sight and then ran to the yellow bug. 

 

"Damn, Swan, the little love saved our necks!" Killian said with a bark of laughter. 

 

"She sure did!" Emma agreed, getting the tote bag off and out from under her dress as she ran and then jumping in the car. Killian got in the drivers side right after her and slammed the door. Emma showed him the contents of the bag, and Killian praised her for her good haul. 

 

"More like a pirate every day, love," he said with a wink. Emma grinned. Killian reached into his pocket and pulled out something he took. 

 

"I got this for you," he said, depositing it in her palm. It was a classy little silver keychain with a pirate ship on it. Emma smiled at him. "D'you like it?" he asked, a little nervously. 

 

"I love it," Emma said, kissing him quickly. "Now come on, we gotta get out of here," she said. After a few more quick kisses, Killian started the car and they were off, wherever they pleased. 

 

* * *

 

It wasn't long after Killian got her that keychain that he brought up the idea of settling down. Emma had been hesitant at first, but she warmed up to the idea. It'd at least be nice to fuck in their own bed instead of on seedy motel mattresses, she told herself at first, but it wasn't long before she found herself excited about the idea. They could find a nice little place, they could both find decent jobs, hell, when they were ready, maybe even start a family. _Shit, where'd that come from?_ Emma scolded herself for thinking too fast. They hadn't even exchanged those three words yet. She knew he loved her and she had long since realized that she loved him, but neither had said anything about it yet. 

 

* * *

 

Killian was being followed. He was walking back to the motel he and Emma were staying at and he was being followed. _Fuck_.

 

He was less then ten yards behind him. He was wearing heavy shoes, boots maybe, but he was good at keeping silent. There was an alley on his left. He could lose him there in three - two - 

 

Killian bolted. He ran down the alley and the man followed him. There was a car but he jumped over it and Killian was nearly over the chain link fence, but a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back down to the ground. 

 

"You have the wrong man, officer!" Killian shouted on assumption as the guy slammed him against the fence. 

 

"You want to protect Emma?" the man asked harshly, and Killian froze for a moment before throwing the guy of of him and turning to face him. 

 

"How the hell do you know Emma?"

 

"I know who you are, Killian Jones," the man said. 

 

"How do you know Emma?" Killian repeated himself. "I am not going to let you hurt her."

 

"Hurt her? No, I- we were in the same home as kids, the name's August. I promised to protect her."

 

Killian scoffed. 

 

"I know, I failed. I thought she'd be safe in the system but now that she's out? I finally find her and she's _robbing convenience stores_ with a good-for-nothing pirate," he said. Killian froze. 

 

"What did you call me?"

 

"Pirate. I told you I know who you are, and you need to leave Emma alone. Leave her, let her go, she has a destiny to fulfill and it doesn't include you."

 

"Never." 

 

"I don't think you understand-"

 

"No, mate, you're the one who doesn't understand," Killian interrupted August, advancing on him until he was backed against the fence. "I will not be leaving the woman I love just because some stranger from that world feeds me some bullshit about destiny. You say you know who I am, well let me remind you of that. You ever come near me or Emma again and my hook will be in your neck." 

 

With that, Killian released him, with a little more force than was strictly necessary, and left him in the alley. 

 

He was crazy if he thought Killian would leave her. 

 

* * *

 

It was July 12, 2002, when Emma realized that she was pregnant. 

 

When she told Killian, he figured that that was as good a time as any for him to bring out the ring that had been burning a hole in his pocket for a month. 

 

She said yes. 

 

* * *

 

They still weren't married and it was still a few months before Emma’s due date when they settled down in Massachusetts. They found a small apartment in a little, coastal town; Emma got a job as a waitress in a diner off the interstate and Killian got himself a boat with a legitimate license to sail it and things were good. 

 

That was, until one day when Killian went out on his boat and then didn’t come back. 

 

Emma had been working late; she’d expected to come home to find Killian sitting at the counter, maybe with a cup of tea waiting for her, but instead she found an empty apartment. 

 

She tried not to worry, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t sleep without him by her side - she laid awake for hours, fiddling with her ring and with the charm that hung on a chain around her neck. 

 

At 3:30 in the morning, she got a call from one of Killian’s fishing buddies. 

 

There had been an accident, a storm. Killian’s boat went down and him with it.

 

He was gone.

 

* * *

 

For the second time in four years, Killian woke up in a different realm. 

 

He was back in the damned Enchanted Forest and Emma was nowhere to be seen.

 

_Emma_.

 

God damn it, Emma, he had promised her that he would never leave her and what did he go and do? He fucking _left_ her, he was in the Enchanted Forest and she was back in Massachusetts; alone. 

 

_Fuck, I’m so sorry, Emma. I’ll find my way back to you, I promise._

 

_I promise._

 

* * *

 

She couldn’t do this, not without Killian. 

 

Emma was a mess. She lost her job, she nearly lost her apartment, and she could barely feed herself. There was no way that she could take care of a baby.

 

When her water broke, Emma drove herself to the hospital. 

 

The nurse told her that her baby was a boy and that he had blue eyes. 

 

Emma wanted nothing more than to hold her baby boy, to take him home and to raise him to be a gentleman just like his father- but she couldn’t do it. There was no way that she could support a baby, he wouldn’t stand a chance with her. 

 

She got a closed adoption and cried for a week. 

 

* * *

 

_I wish that I could see him again,_ Emma thought to herself as she blew out the single candle in her birthday cupcake. _Fuck,_ she missed him. 

 

_Knock, knock, knock._

 

_Ugh, what now?_ Emma sighed heavily and pushed herself off of the counter, making her way to her front door. When she opened it, there didn’t seem to be anyone there - until she shifted her gaze a few feet down. It was a boy - a boy with dark hair and shockingly familiar blue eyes.  

 

“Can I help you?”

 

“Are you Emma Swan?” the boy asked. 

 

“Yes,” Emma answered hesitantly. 

 

“My name’s Henry, I’m your son.”

 

* * *

 

Time was moving again. After nine years of everything being stationary, things were moving forward again. 

 

And things moving forward also meant meeting new people. Distasteful people. 

 

Killian would do anything to get back to Emma and if working with Cora was the way to do it, then so be it.

 

* * *

 

“Can you tell me about him?” Henry asked, a bit out of the blue, as she was going through files, looking for Ava and Nicholas’ father. She looked up at him, a bit puzzled. 

 

“About Ava and Nicholas’s dad?” she asked. 

 

“No, about my dad,” Henry clarified, though he was hesitant, nervous. “I told you about your parents and now you’ve been living with your mom-” 

 

“Mary Margaret isnt-” Emma started to say, “she’s- nevermind.”

 

“Please?” Henry asked softly. Emma took a deep breath. She could tell him, right? He deserved to know about Killian. He deserved it.

 

“I was pretty young,” she began. God, how was she going to spin this to leave out the robberies? Shit. “I had just gotten out of the foster system and the only job I could find was at this twenty-four hour diner just off the interstate.” Technically not a lie. “Your dad had a boat, and he would give people boat rides and sell the fish he caught. I, uh, well, I wasn’t doing so well. I tried to steal his car,” Emma admitted with a smile, one that Henry returned. 

 

“What was his name?” Henry asked.

 

“Killian,” Emma answered with a sad smile. “I loved him so much, Henry, and he loved me. He loved fairy tales, just like you. His favorite story was Peter Pan, but he couldn’t stand Peter. His favorite character was Captain Hook. He thought that he wasn’t evil, just misunderstood,” Emma told him. “He called his fishing boat the Jolly Roger,” she added with a reminiscent smile. 

 

“Did you get married?” Henry asked. 

 

_Fuck,_ Emma was going to cry. 

 

“We were going to,” Emma admitted, and she pulled off the ring that she had been wearing for nine years and handed it to her son so he could take a look at it. “He bought this ring for me a month before I found out I was pregnant with you,” she explained. “He asked me to marry him right after I told him about the pregnancy.” Henry smiled, but after a moment, the smile faded.

 

“Where is he now?” he asked. 

 

“Henry, I-” Emma paused to collect herself and took one of Henry’s hands in her own. “I’m so sorry, Henry, but he’s gone. He was out on his boat one night and there was a storm. His boat went down and he went with it.” Henry’s face fell.  


“Henry, he would have loved you so much,” she told him earnestly.

 

“Do you have anything of his?” Henry asked hopefully. “Something to remember him by?” 

 

“Yeah, I do, actually,” Emma said, and she knew just the thing. “Come on, kid,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her to her car. She popped the trunk and opened up the small compartment in the bottom, pulling out the small box that had been there for years now. She rooted through the box until she found what she was looking for. “Come here, Henry,” she said, and he came up next to her. “This was his,” she said, pulling the leather jacket out of the box. As she did so, an idea occurred to her. _Killian would want him to have it._

 

“Here,” she said, handing it to Henry, “try it on.” 

 

The nine-year-old boy pulled on the jacket, shrugging it over his shoulders and pushing up the sleeves so that they weren’t swallowing his hands. He was swimming in the damn thing.

 

“It’s a little big,” Henry said with a smile - Killian’s smile. 

 

“You’ll grow into it?”

 

* * *

 

"Your fiancé-" August said abruptly, and that was what stopped Emma in her tracks. Nobody knew about Killian. Nobody. So how the fuck-

 

"What are you talking about?" she asked sharply, whipping back around to face him. First the damn diner and now this? How much did this nutjob know about her life?

 

"He disappeared in a sailing accident nine years ago," August persisted, and Emma froze. He could have guessed that she'd been engaged, but there was no way he could've guessed  _that_. 

 

"How the hell do you know that?" Emma demanded in a frighteningly level tone, even as she fought back the painful memories. 

 

"It wasn't a storm, it was a portal," August ignored her question again. "He was keeping you from your destiny. I had a bean, a magic bean that could create a portal, and I-"

 

"Are you saying that you're responsible for what happened to Killian?" Emma cried, visibly distraught now. This couldn't be happening. This  _wasn't_ happening. 

 

"I'm not proud of it," August said, but all Emma heard was  _yes, it was my fault._ "I sent him back to where he came from. He was never supposed to be in this world in the first place-"

 

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Emma asked him now. 

 

"Did you even know your fiancé? Did he ever tell you who he really was?" August steamrolled over her yet again. "He wasn't just some thief turned sailor, he's from the Enchanted Forest, from the same world that I'm from, that your parents are from."

 

"Yeah? Then who is he, Captain Hook?" Emma asked facetiously, but she groaned in exasperation when August just kept a straight face. "I don't believe it. You think that he was-" Emma paused to collect herself. "Killian wasn't some storybook villain. I loved him and I lost him in a sailing accident and his- his body is on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. You're crazy."

 

* * *

 

 

When Emma kissed Henry on the forehead, she had not been expecting that wave of what could only have been magic. And she was not expecting to learn that she had just broken The Curse.

 

Henry had been telling the truth. 

 

August had been telling the truth. 

 

And if August had been right about this, about her parents, then-

 

No. Emma wasn't going to do that to herself. Killian was gone, he was dead. 

 

He was dead. 

 

(Maybe if she told herself that enough times, she'd believe it one day.)

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, hey, there’s someone under there!” Emma realized, noticing a hand sticking out from the rubble of what used to be the so-called Safe Haven, moving around and shifting the pile of shit on top of- him?

 

“Please, please,” the person pleaded, their voice eerily familiar to Emma. 

 

“Get him out of there, get him out!” Aurora insisted, even as they were moving debris and reaching down to pull the survivor out. 

 

He was free, and Emma was speechless. She knew that face. She knew that face and she hadn’t seen it in ten years. 

 

“Emma?” Mary Margaret tried to get her daughter’s attention. “Are you okay?”

 

"You- you were dead! You were dead!" Emma finally found her voice, reaching out one shaky hand for him. She couldn't believe her eyes. “ _Killian_.”

 

Killian reached his hands up to caress Emma's face - he couldn’t believe it - she was there! She was real and she was _there!_ Emma guided his hand to her cheek and he wiped away tears that she hadn’t even realized that she had shed. 

 

“Emma,” he breathed her name, and he took her into his arms, something that he had hardly dared to hope to do again. “You’re not pregnant,” he realized aloud, moving to hold her at arm’s length so he could get a god look at her. 

 

“No,” she shook her head, smiling widely. “He’s a boy - his name is Henry, he’s nine years old, he’s-” 

 

“Emma!” Mary Margaret’s voice called the pair of them out of their reverie, both of them whirling around to face her. “What’s going on?” she asked, beyond confused. 

 

“Mary Margaret, this is Killian,” Emma introduced him, “Henry’s father.” 

 

“Or,” Killian interrupted, “you might know me by my more colorful moniker: Hook.”

 

“Are you kidding me right now?” Emma whirled around to face him. “You’re from here and you’re _actually_ Captain Hook?”

 

“Sure as anything, love.”

 

“ _God,_ I missed you.”

 

* * *

 

He'd been working for Cora. The witch had given him two magical cuffs and it hadn't even been a question who would be joining him on the beanstalk. Mulan still didn't trust him, neither did Aurora or Mary Margaret, for that matter, and so that left Emma as the obvious choice. 

 

Plus, they had a lot to catch up on. 

 

Killian went first. He explained what happened on his boat that fateful day and assured her that he never intended to leave her. He told her about his life, about his past, which apparently spanned over 300 years. He really was Captain Fucking Hook. He hated Peter Pan with a passion, but for good reasons, and he despised Rumplestiltskin with every fiber of his being. 

 

It seemed they had that in common. 

 

Emma finally got a real explanation for his tattoo and for his hand, and she was finally able to tell him about her family. He nearly fell from the beanstalk when she told him that her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming. 

 

"It seems I wasn't that far off all those times I called you 'princess,' love," he said with a grin. 

 

After some prodding, Emma told him what happened after he 'died.' She told him why she gave Henry up for adoption. She told him how she couldn't even look at him when he was born because if she saw those damn blue eyes she knew she'd want to keep him and she knew she couldn't do that. He didn't blame her. But she told him about their son; about how he brought her to Storybrooke and how he believed in her and in everything in spite of the bullshit Regina continually fed him. She told him about how Henry loved to read, how he hated math class, and how he was now in possession of Killian's old leather jacket. 

 

"He looks so much like you," Emma told him as they were nearing the top of the beanstalk. Killian met her eyes and gave her one of the most sincere smiles she had ever seen grace his lips. 

 

"We will get back to him, love," he said, maneuvering himself so he could free up his right hand and reach over to give hers a squeeze. "I promise."

 

* * *

 

 

They were on the shores of Lake Nostos, Cora was reaching for Killian's chest, for his _heart_ , and Emma acted without thinking. She just found him, she wasn't going to lose him again. She pushed him out of the way and the next thing she knew, Cora’s hand was in her chest, clutching her heart.

 

“No! Emma!” Killian cried as he stumbled back to his feet. 

 

“Oh, you foolish girl!” Cora said mockingly. “Don’t you know? Love is weakness,” she said, and she tugged sharply on Emma’s heart. But it wouldn’t budge. She pulled and she yanked, but Emma’s heart wouldn’t leave her chest. And at that moment, Emma realized something.

 

“No,” she disagreed. “It’s strength.” And with that declaration, something burst forth from Emma, some force, a white light that radiated out from her and blasted Cora back, knocking her unconscious in the process. Emma was in shock, even as Killian and Mary Margaret ran to her side. “What was that?”

 

“That,” Mary Margaret answered, “is a great topic for discussion, after we get home,” she said, and the three of them ran for the edge of the water, where the portal still swirled. Emma held out the compas to Mary Margaret in one hand and extended her other to Killian, who took it and held on tight.

 

“Ready?” Mary Margaret asked the two of them. They answered in the affirmative.

 

“Let’s go,” Emma said, and they jumped.

 

* * *

 

They made it. They made it through, and Emma was pretty damn sure that they were inside the wishing well. Killian helped her and Mary Margaret out (thankfully the well wasn’t that deep), and as soon as Emma was out, she had her arms full of Henry.

 

“I missed you!” she said as she hugged her son tight and he hugged her right back. “I missed you so much!”

 

“I missed you too,” Henry replied, burying his face in her shoulder. Behind them, Mary Margaret had climbed out, and she caught a glimpse of Mr. Gold walking away from the well and towards the road, choosing not to watch the reunion. Mary Margaret heard the sound of a throat being cleared from back inside the well and she shook herself out of her daze, leaning back over the edge of the well and giving Killian a hand, helping him out.

 

“Mom?” Henry’s voice diverted Emma’s attention as she looked to see what had caused his attention. _Killian._ “Who’s that?” he asked. At the first thing Henry had said, Killian’s jaw dropped a little and he turned his eyes on Emma in question. She smiled. However, before she could answer, Henry had spotted the hook. “Are you Captain Hook?” he asked eagerly.

 

“Henry, remember when I told you about your dad?” Emma asked, diverting her son’s attention and crouching a little so that she was on eye level with her son. Henry nodded and Emma could practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he worked out what was going on. “The storm he disappeared in was a portal, a portal that took him back home to the Enchanted Forest,” she explained, and Henry’s eyes were wide as saucers. Emma turned back to Killian to see those same eyes brimming with happy tears. She nodded towards Henry and Killian approached the two of them, crouching beside Emma. 

 

“Henry, I’d like you to meet your dad,” she said.

 

“Hello, lad,” Killian greeted his son, ignoring everyone else’s (everyone else being Regina and Ruby) reactions to that revelation. Henry’s expression was one of awe and pure happiness.

 

“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Henry,” Killian said sincerely, extending his hand to the boy, expecting him to shake it. What he got instead was a hug. Killian was surprised and from what Emma could tell, a bit nervous, but she gave him a reassuring smile and he hugged Henry back. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Dad.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. If you liked it, let me know with kudos or in a comment!


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